Indian Antiquary Vol 61

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 56

46
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
MARCH, 1932
Does it mean simply "the Brâhmans of the town"? If so, what is the force of the word 'town' here? Is it implied that the Brâhmans of the villages are innocent, but not of the towns? Besides, palaces must always be situated in the capital towns. Hence the Brahmans who are most likely to come in contact with the palace damsels must be the Brahmans of the nagara or town. Hence there was no need of using the word någara to qualify Brahmañá”. As a matter of fact, the Brâhmans of Gauda also were notorious for their carnal practices, and are mentioned in connection with the palace ladies of Gauda. But they are there called simply Brahmanas and not Nagara-Brahma ias, though they surely belonged to the capital town of Gauda. If we thus impartially consider the expression Nagara
-Brahmanah, it seems that here the Någar Brahmans areintended. And if this interpretation of ours is entitled to any weight, we have further to infer that they were in the time of Vâtsydyana settled in Anga, Vanga and Kalinga, and not in Gauda, which is distinguished from these countries. This also throws light on the name Nagarakah which occurs twice in the Kamastra. 16 In both places the term is explained by the commentator to mean Patali. putrakah. But this interpretation does not appear plausible, because at the place where it occurs first, it is distinguished from Gauda, and where it is mentioned next it is distinguished from Prachya. Both Gauda and Prachya included Pataliputra and the surrounding districts. On the other hand, if Nagaraka is taken to denote Anga, Vanga and Kalinga, where the Någar Brahmans were settled, this sense will suit in both the places just referred to, because these countries have already been distinguished from Gauda and Prachya in the Kámasútra.
I have elsewhere shown that the Nagar Brahmans were called Nagar, because they originally came from Nagar or Nagarkot, the old name of Kangda, which is situated in the Panjab in the Sawalakh or Sapadalaksha hills. 17 There can be no doubt that they were Sapada. laksha Brahmans. Now, if we turn to the Karatoyd-mahatmya, which describes the holy sites of Mahästhana or old Pundravardhana, which is in the Bogra District of Bengal and which stands on the west bank of the river, we find that, curiously enough, there is a reference, not once, but twice to these Sapadalaksha Brâhmang,18 The first of these is in connection with the sabha of Rama, locally identifiable with Paraburdmer Sabhábafi. The second refer. once consists in showing that the special holiness of Pundravardhana consists in being presided over as much by the Sapadalaksha Brahmans as by the gods, Skanda, Vishnu, Balabhadra, Siva and so forth. This is an unmistakable indication that these Sapadalaksha Brâhmans, who can be no other than the Nagar Bråhmans, held a position in the estimation of the people which was as prominent and sacred as the gods themselves. It is not necessary to assume that these Brahmans came to Bengal direct from the Sawalakh hills. Even when the Châhamanas were settled in the heart of RajputAnA, they were known as Sapadalakshiyas centuries later.19 The same thing may have happened in regard to the Någar Brahmans also.
It is a well-known practice of a people or tribe to name the places, provinces or rivers of their new settlement after the old one from where they have migrated. It will be shown later on that Anandapura (=Vadnagar), e.g., was known as Nagara, after the Nagars were settled there. They had more than one such settlement named Nagara. So far as Bengal is concerned, there is one village called Nagar in the Dacca district and another in Sylhet. There are, again, two rivers of that name in North Bengal,-one running from Purnea to Dinajpur and the other from Bogra to Rajshahi.40 All these places are not far removed from the Maldah district, where the Khalimpur copper-plate was discovered.
There is yet another picce of evidence which we have to consider in this connection. It is supplied by the charter of Dharmapala found at Khalimpur in the Maldah District of 16 II. 5-30 (p. 131) and II..9,27 (p. 172).
17 ind. Ant., Vol. XL. 1911, p. 34. 19 Mahnathan and its Environs (Varen. Res. Society's Monograph No. 2), p. 11 and p. 26, vs. 22 and 24; Also Kayastha Samaj (M&sik), B.S. 1336, pp. 496-7. 19 Ind. Ant., Vol. XL. 1911, p. 26.
20 JASB., Vol. LXV. Pt. I, p. 117.